Lace web and process of making the same



J. SPALDING LACE WEB AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Jan. 19, 1926IAN/EN 70/? A TTOH/VEV Patented Apr. 10, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.

'J'OHN SPALDING, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO ALBERT T. OTTO-d6SONS, 0] NEW YOEK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

mien wan AND rnocnss or MAKING Erna sum.

Application filed January 19, 1926. Serial No. 82,185.

In the manufacture of certain kinds of lace it is customary to form alarge number of the bands or widths of the lace at the same time, and toaccomplishthls by forming a wide ,web which includes a plurality of thebands or strips of the lace arranged side by side, and extendinglengthwise of the web. The machine is so designed and operated thatauxiliary threads are included which extend lengthwise of the web, andserve to connect together the adjacent edges of the bands or strlps.

As 'these threads are usually removed by drawing them out in brokensections, they are commonly called draw strings. They may be removedimmediately after the knitting, braiding, weaving, or other formmgoperation, but preferably not unt11 after the finishing operations suchas 'bleachlng, dyeing, starching, stretching, etc. As those draw threadsare ordinary removed by hand the labor involved adds materlally to thecost of the product, and the pulling or cutting of these threads orstrings often breaks or cuts threads of the lace, so as to .Tuin or atleast lower the value of the product.

The main object of my lnventlon is to facilitate the removal of thesedraw threads without hand work, without the necessity of drawing orcutting them, and without l ia bility of injury to the lace. Iaccomplish this result by making these draw strings or threads of adifferent material from the threads of the'lace and of such materialthat they may be destroyed in situ. I subject the draw strings to theaction of a destroying agent, as distinguished from physically removingthem by pulling them out. The destroying agent is preferably one whichwill convert the thread into liquid form or dissolve it. The dissolvingmay be a melting action, the forming of a physical or chemical solution,or other disintegration, so that it loses its physical characteristicsas a thread, and loses all capability of holding the parts together.

By means of my invention I simplify the manufacture of lace, effect agreat saving in cost, time and labor, and avoid the production of alarge percentage of seconds.

In carrying out my invention I use in place of the ordina cotton drawstrings, strings or threads w ichf may be destroyed by an agent whichwill not injuriously affect the threads going to make up the'lace. Themanufacture may be carried on in the usual manner, and'the web of lacemay be subjected to the, usual procedure which may in-' Merely as anexample the draw strings may be made of cellulose acetate fibers whichare soluble in acetone. Various other solvents'may be used, dependingupon the character of the thread used, and'which will not affect theordinary cottonthreads used in making the lace. Among such solvents arethe following: acetone, methyl alcohol, amyl acetate, benzene, ethylalcohol, methyl ethyl ketone, tetrachlorethane, methyl acetate, ethylformate, acetic acid, ethyl acetyl acetate, furfurol, acetic ether,ether, diketone alcohol, benzilic alcohol, phenol, and spiritturpentine. I

When the webs of lace are woven with the soluble draw strings therein,the web is subjected to the usual procedure for finishing, and when dryis passed through an apparatus containing ,the suitable solvent ormixture of solvents to dissolve out the draw strings. The lace is nowseparated into bands or strips which pass through driers or washers toremove the excess solvent, and the bands or strips are reeled up.

To prevent undue shrinkage during the dissolving or drying, the Web orlace may be. placed in oneor more thicknesses between draw strings. Whenall of the draw strings have been dissolved, the lace, with or w thoutthe screens, is run into a suitable drier, and the excess solventremoved. The pressure of the screens on the lace web Wlll prevent undueshrinkage during this process.

In some instances the draw strings may be of a metal alloy with a verylow melting oint, such that it will melt and drop out if the lace bepassed through bolhngwater. It may also be of 9. meta which w1lld1sintegrate or dissolve in the action of a dilute acid which will notaffect the fibers of the lace. In some cases I might use a metal ormetallic alloy for the threads, the composition being such as Wlllreadily melt in a blast of hot air or inert gas and the particles beremoved or blown away by the blast, or theymay be subjected to theaction of a blast of hot oxygen which w1ll oxldlze them and remove thereaction products.

Althou h, as previously stated, I preferably employ a soluble organicfiber which will dissolve in an organic solvent, I consider. within mybroad invention any material which may be removed by a destroying agentwhich will not injuriously afiect the fibers of the lace, and preferablythe threads are of such kind that t ey may be converted into fluid formby the dissolving agent. By the term fluid form I include ordinarymelting, as well as physical and chemical solution.

I do not wish to be limited to any particular design or type of lace,nor to any particular apparatus for removing the draw strings by thedestroying agent. The construction shown in the accompanying drawing isgiven merely by way of example:

Fig. 1 is a face view of a web of lace 1n eluding four bands or strips.

Fig. 2 is a greatly magnified v1ew of the adjacent edges of two bandsshowing the draw strings, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical section showing n a very diagrammatic form anapparatus which may be employed.

In Fig. 1 I have shown four bands or strips of lace 10 which are made atthe same time in forming the webmade up of these four strips or bands.Obviously, in practice, with narrow width lace there would be a verylarge number of such bands or strips, instead of merel four. asillustrated. Each band or strip 0 lace is shown as having a straightedge 11 and an edge 12 presenting a series of small s.

In Fig. 2 the ed e 11 is shown as terminating in a threa 13, while theadjacent edge 11 of the other band or strip includes an edge thread 14which presents a series of loops. These two threads 13 and 14 which formpermanent parts of the two bands or strips of lace, are connectedtogether by a draw string 15 and a tie thread 16. In the ordinaryconstruction the draw string 15 is pulled out when the web of lace iscompleted and the tie thread which is ordinarily of very much smallersize may be readily removed. In my improved construction, instead ofmaking this draw string of cotton thread or other material analogous tothat employed in forming the lace, I make this thread of a' materialwhich may be destroyed by an agent which will not injuriously affect thethreads of the lace. As soon as the draw string 15 is dissolvedorotherwise converted into fluid from, the tie thread 16 is liberated, andmay be readily removed.

In Fig. 3 I have shown somewhat dia-.

grammatically an apparatus which may be employed particularly if theliquid which is used to dissolve out the draw string softens the starchor otherwise tends to shrink.

the lace. In the construction illustrated there is employed a tank20having aplurality of rollers 21 and partitions 22, so arranged that theweb of lace 23 fed from the roll 24 may pass up and down a plurality oftimes through the tank. If the tank is filled or nearly filled with aliquid solvent for the draw strings, it is preferable to provide brushes25 which will act against the lace particularly along the lines of thedraw strings. The parts 25, instead of being brushes, may be nozzleswhich direct streams of the solvent or other destroying agent in fluidform directly against the lace or the draw strings. The web of lace maypass from the tank 20 toa roller 26, thence around a steam drum 27 to asecond roller 28, so that the lace may be thoroughly dried after leavingthe tank 20 and before being delivered to reels or other devices forreceiving the strips or bands ofulace which are now sepa rated one fromanother. In the tank 20 it will be noted that the middle partition subsdivides the tank into two compartments. The solvent for the draw stringsmay be in the first compartment, and the liquid on the opposite side ofthe partition may serve to rinse or wash the lace free from any solventwhich would adhere thereto.

To prevent shrinking I may employ a pair of screens or belts 29 and 30which may come together to receive the web therebetween at a pair ofdrums 31, 32, and these two screens may continue with the web of laceand upon opposite sides thereof through the tank and around. the steamdrum to a pair of drums 33, 34. The screens are of such material and sogrip the lace between them, that it is prevented from shrinking sidewaysor lengthwise, either while in the tanker while ben dried. The screen 29may return direct y from the drum 33 to the drum 31, while the screen 30may pass from the drum 34 around apair of idlers 35, 36 to the drum 32.

it will of course be evident that the tie threads 16 may also be of thesame material.

If the tie threads be of cotton or other ordinary material which wouldnot be affected by the solvent, they'should fall out when the bands orstrips are separated, if the operation of the machine is perfect.

Having thus described my invention, what" I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. The process of making lace strips,including forming a plurality of strips side by side and connectedtogether by threads of a material which may be destroyed by an agentwhich will not injuriously aifect the threads of said strips.

2. The process of making lace strips, including forming a plurality ofstrips side by side and connected together by threads of a materialwhich may be destroyed by an agent which will not injuriously affect thethreads of said strips, and treating said connecting threads by saidagent to free said strips from one another.

3. The process of making lace strips, including forming a lace webcomprising a plurality of strips side by side and connected together bythreads of a material Which is soluble in a liquid which will notdissolve the threads of the strips, and treating said web to said li uidso as to dissolve said connecting threa s and free said strips one fromanother.

4. The process of making lace strips, including forming a pluralit ofstrips side by side and connected toget er, the threads of the stripsbeing of vegetable matter and the connecting threads being celluloseacetate.

5. The process of making lace strips, in-

cluding forming a plurality of strips side by side and connectedtogether, the threads of the strips being of vegetable matter and theconnecting threads being cellulose acetate, subjecting the strips whileconnected, to finishing operations, and thereafter subjecting them tothe action of a solvent which will dissolve the cellulose acetatethreads without dissolving the other threads.

6. A fabric web including a plurality of fiat sections each adapted toform a finished article of manufacture, said sections bein connectedtogether by threads of a materia which may be converted to fluid form byan agent which will not injuriously aifect the threads forming suchsections. v

7.'A lace web including a plurality of lace strips connected together bythreads which may be converted into fluid form by an agent which willnot injuriously affect the threads of said strips whereby said stripsmay be separated.

8. 'A lace web including a plurality of flat lace strips connectedtogether edge to edge by draw strings, the draw strings being formed ofcellulose acetate.

9. A lace web including a plurality of flat lace strips connectedtogether edge to edge by draw strings, the draw strings being formed ofa material soluble in a fluid which 'will not injuriously affect thethreads of said strips.

10. The process which includes forming a plurality of pieces of fabricconnected together by threads of a material which will not be afiectedby washing, bleaching or other finishing operations on the fabric, butwhich may be destroyed by an agent which will not injuriously affect thethreads of said fabric whereby the pieces of fabric may be separated bythe destruction of the connecting threads after the finishing operations on the fabric.

11. The process which includes forming a plurality of pieces of fabricconnected together by threads of a material which will not be affectedby washing, bleaching or other finishing operations on the fabric, butwhich may be destroyed by an agent which will not injuriously affect thethreads of said fabric, and thereafter treating the fabric with saidagent to thereby destroy said connecting threads and free said pieces offabric from one another.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York this11th day of January, A. D. 1926.

JOHN SPALDI'NG.

